Press Releases

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ORLANDO- Tallahassee’s professional photographers represented the Capital City this week in the Florida Professional Photographers (FPP) state photography competition, bringing home several prestigious awards. The Tallahassee Professional Photographer’s Guild (TPPG) was represented by president Kylene Gay and placed second in the overall standings between the various guilds across the state.

“As a member of TPPG for the past six years and a board member for five, I have been lucky enough to watch our organization grow tremendously,” said TPPG President Gay. “We have a fairly small group compared to other large cities in the state, so for us to make such a successful showing at state convention was a huge honor and very exciting to witness. I am very proud to represent this group of photographers!”

At the FPP awards ceremony, Tallahassee photographer Linda Long was recognized for her image, “Frozen”, as first place in the Illustrative Open category and also for the overall Best in Show for the Illustrative category. With the combined scores of all her entries, Long was honored as one of Florida’s Top Ten Photographers for 2014.

Tallahassee photographer, Steven Saccio, received first place in the Commercial Photojournalism category for his image “Reborn through the Water”, and also received a distinguished award for his image, “Once More With Soul”. Tallahassee photographer Kira Derryberry earned a first place in the Pet Portrait category for her image, “But, I Love You”. Another local photographer, Terri Smith, also received a distinguished award for her portrait of a group, “Foggy Morning Games”.

The awards were not limited to artistic excellence, with both Linda and Olyn Long receiving their Florida Service Award degrees for their selfless contributions to the photographic industry. Dena Lewis received the Florida Education Degree and Kira Derryberry received honors for her outstanding service with the TPPG.

Other TPPG members who received merits for their photographs are Kylene Gay, Olyn Long and Cindy Strickland.

The Tallahassee Professional Photographers Guild had a record showing at the competition, placing second among all the groups in the state. Every member of TPPG who entered images in the competition had at least one image “merit”, or receive a score of 80 or higher. The overall competition had only 34 percent of entries receive this designation, making Tallahassee photographers among the state’s elite.